Surprise! The Reason There's a Nexus 4 Shortage Is Google Didn't Order Enough

In probably the biggest no-shit moment of the year, but we now know why Google's struggling to supply us all with Nexus 4s -- it simply didn't order enough. LG's apparently pumping them out as quickly as it can, but basically, Google didn't expect the huge demand at its doors, and you have to wonder, why the hell not?

Cnet UK managed to get hold of LG to ask, why the shortage? The reply: Google didn't forecast properly for the "huge demand," which meant LG only shipped Mountain View what it ordered, hence the massive sell out.

Of course, we assume this was a mistake on Google's side -- selling out and having frustrated phone buyers hammering at your door is seemingly a bad thing -- but maybe it's 'pulling a Nintendo'. Keep stock low, sell out, create hysteria. It's also good for Google's partners, like the phone networks, because without a plentiful supply of cheap phones from Google direct, they can sell the phones at higher price points, mainly around the £400-mark.

Only Google really knows whether the Nexus 4 launch was a screw-up or an ingenious plan to get us to write about it all the time, but from the outside it seems to have caused more issues than good. But then, there's no such thing as bad publicity, right? [Cnet UK]